Chemotherapy & Antioxidants

The Pine Street Foundation is now critically examining published studies to see whether Chinese herbal medicine, when added to chemotherapy, could measurably improve treatment outcomes for people with colon cancer, as compared to using the same chemotherapy alone.

Using antioxidants during chemotherapy is an important and controversial question among health care providers, patients, and their support teams. In previous issues of Avenues, we have researched this subject thoroughly for prostate, breast, lung, colon, and ovarian cancers. In this article, we turn our focus to lymphoma, conducting a systematic search for published research that would support or discourage the use of antioxidants in combination with chemotherapy.

Chemotherapy drugs used in the treatment of ovarian cancer work, in part, by inducing even higher levels of oxidative stress to attack cancer cells. This increased oxidative stress also causes chemotherapy related side effects. Oncologists have been concerned that antioxidants, which can decrease oxidative stress, can therefore also decrease chemotherapy treatment effectiveness or increase resistance to chemotherapy. However, no substantial clinical research has emerged to support the assertion that antioxidants are contraindicated during chemotherapy.

Although not commonly addressed in clinical consultation, scientific evidence suggests that combining certain chemotherapy treatments with specific antioxidants at defined dosages can improve drug effectiveness or may reduce side effect severity in the treatment of colon cancer.

There is a growing body of evidence that suggests combining specific chemotherapy treatments for lung cancer with certain antioxidants at defined dosages can help improve drug effectiveness or reduce the severity of side effects. In this evidence-based review article, Johanna Altgelt, an associate researcher at the Pine Street Foundation, searched through thousands of peer-reviewed, published studies and discusses how antioxidants may enhance or, in some cases, inhibit the therapeutic action of specific chemotherapy drugs used in the treatment of lung cancer.

There is a growing body of evidence that suggests combining certain chemotherapy treatments with certain antioxidants at specific dosages can help improve drug effectiveness or reduce the severity of side effects. In this evidence-based review article, we searched through thousands of peer-reviewed, published studies and discuss how antioxidants may enhance or, in some cases, inhibit the therapeutic action of specific chemotherapy drugs used in the treatment of breast cancer.

While it is true that there are some antioxidants that can hinder chemotherapy’s effects, recent research suggests that there are some antioxidants that, when combined with chemotherapy, can increase the effectiveness of treatment by upwards of 30%. In this article, we seek to provide some clarity on this topic by providing useful guidelines that patients and health care providers can use to make better, more informed treatment decisions. Although this article specifically focuses on advanced metastatic prostate cancer, future articles will focus on the use of antioxidants and chemotherapy in the treatment of other cancers.

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Founded in 1989, the Pine Street Foundation's mission is to help people with cancer reach more informed treatment decisions through education and research.

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